The Wind of the Night

Le vent de la nuit

Synopsis

A wayward young man (Xavier Beauvois) finds himself involved with two mysterious people of a previous generation. After an affair with the married Hélène (Catherine Deneuve), the young man tries to escape her obsessions on a road trip with Serge (Daniel Duval), a taciturn relic of the 60s.

Our take

Garrel’s stark lyricism seems naturally suited to his trademark black and white—however, his work with color is equally poignant. The Wind of the Night is an unequivocally Garrelian look at the inescapable vulnerability of being human, showing us a side of Madame Deneuve we’re not used to seeing.

Reminiscent of the classic road movies of Wim Wenders, albeit, with the usual Garrel meditations on regret (specifically related to May 1968) and desperation (more often related to couples and their inability to receive love). The bold use of 'scope photography seems intended to exaggerate the spaces between individuals and the loneliness of their world.

Grew on me. On the one hand, nothing irritates me more than (morose, slightly petulant, often French) "cinematic" emotional immaturity. On the other, maybe they embody it so I don't have to? Disillusionment, after all, isn't hard to relate to. ('68 being a pretty justifiable source thereof, so fair enough re their pouty.) Lesson: being a "grown up" is like being in high school, but with less life left in you. 3.5

Performances are key in this subdued film about a young man involved with an older woman and who takes up with a former sixties radical pondering both his own identity and relevance while basking in the somewhat failed dreams and ideals of the other two. Deneuve, Duval and Beauvois all give strong turns here.

Two stars for the cool red Porsche. Otherwise, one of the worst films EVER. Stiff artificial dialog for most of the movie (ps I'm French FWIW). Totally irrelevant dialog about drugs and also about Mai 68 (May 1968, time of upheaval in France). Learned nothing, enjoyed nothing (other than the red Porsche driving nice roads), pure waste of a movie. Only stuck to it to see if a miracle would somehow happen. Nothing! (((

Sentimental, nostalgic trip about loneliness, love and struggle adapting to ever-changing reality. Also, this is a film about the 60s, the revolutionary days. About people, who had to forget about their ideals - or suffer life trapped in the past. I personally met such people, here in Poland, people who after the fall of communism couldn't or didn't want to change and adapt. Difficult topic, handled in a subtle way.

Garrel has a knack (and I don't know how he does it) for making mundanity—endless drives, long walks, lengthy silences—compelling. Of course, it helps to have Deneuve playing a woman whose insecurity about aging shows how little she values herself once she perceives that her beauty's ebbing. It isn't, of course, which makes her sadder. For me, the true star is Daniel Duval, a ferocious enigma with devastated eyes.